Saturday 8th March 2025
ONLINE 10-4.30pm GMT
Conference Speakers
Conference Speakers
Conference host & founder Lydia Julien
Artist, Community Archivist, Engagement and Outreach Worker, Facilitator, Trainee Arts Psychotherapist
Lydia Julien has worked in public and academic services for over 15 years.
As an artist and workshop facilitator, she works with a wide range of abilities sharing skills and techniques. She often works within narratives based loosely upon personal, gathered or abstract experiences around race, memory and culture.
With a strong person-centred and anti-oppressive approach, she is passionate about the Art Psychotherapy profession and is currently in training at Goldsmiths University, UK
Committed to being compassionate and responsive, at the core of her therapeutic approach, she believes the creative process can help people communicate their feelings giving shape to difficult feelings and complex trauma.
Marian Faye
Librarian and Community Worker
Marian Faye runs the Bakau Community Library, in Gambia. A committed grassroots worker in the community, she offers support to young women and girls at risk from trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Marian is dedicated to making a difference in the community by working with others to address issues and identify needs, motivations, and potential for new skills and empowerment.
By building trust with those she supports, Marian has encouraged and nurtured action in the community, paving the way to encourage potential small-scale entrepreneurship for young women, so they can support themselves and forge a future.
Isatou Sowe
MSc Global Management, Information Technician, Educator, Librarian, Social Influencer and Presenter
Isatou Sowe is the President of the Gambia Library and Information Services Association. She has extensive experience in library and information science, having previously served as the Head of the Reference Library at the Gambia National Library Service Authority.
A Swedish Institute Scholar and a Young African Leadership Fellow (YALI), Ms. Sowe has demonstrated strong leadership and advocacy in education, research, and sustainable development. She was the Chair-lady of the University of The Gambia Vice Chancellor's Debate Championship, where she collaborated with institutions such as the American Embassy on initiatives promoting peace and intellectual discourse.
Beyond her professional and academic engagements, Ms. Sowe is a dedicated volunteer and trainer, contributing to various projects that support community development and capacity building. She has worked with international organizations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), under the Communication for Development (C4D) initiative, where she focused on behavioral change communication through community participation.
Currently, she is pursuing dual master’s degrees: a Master of Library and Information Science at the University of Nairobi and a Master of Global Management at Jönköping University, Sweden. With a passion for knowledge management, digital transformation, and sustainable development, Ms. Sowe continues to make significant contributions to the advancement of library services and information accessibility.
Fiona Quadri
Fiona Quadri is a London-based artist, educator, and community builder with a background in Postcolonial Studies and Advertising.
In her work, she explores themes of displacement, race, and queerness through DIY publishing, activist-led creative practices, and historical archives. Passionate about racial justice and decolonial storytelling, she collaborates with grassroots organisations and cultural institutions, using illustration, workshops, and collective making to create accessible, de-hierarchised spaces for care, imagination, and change.
Nadine Grant
MSc. International Business and Law is an International Accounting Manager for EMEA/UK and APAC.
Nadine has over 30 years experience in the Finance industry and is also an advocate for women's empowerment. Prior to her current role, she founded a consultancy firm working with leading companies such as Barclays Head Office, Santander Head Office and Mercedes Benz Head Office.
Beyond her corporate achievements, Nadine is deeply committed to supporting survivors of domestic violence. Through mentorship and workshops, she equips women with the tools to achieve financial independence and long-term success.
Her mission is to extend beyond the UK, fostering global women empowerment and to intentionally pave the way for future generations.
Emily Lewis
Emily Lewis is a Therapeutic Counsellor, Tutor/trainer, workshop designer and facilitator with over 30yrs experience in Mental Health and wellbeing.
Founder of I Found Me Therapeutic Counselling, providing Therapeutic services for children and adults. Working in partnership with Hackney.
Juliet Coley BCAe
Juliet Coley is an award-winning educator, author and publisher of Black books written by Black children aged 6 to 16 years.
She worked for The Voice newspaper as Head of Promotions, for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 as a presenter and producer and was trained by ITN as a broadcast journalist for ITV News.
She worked in a secondary school setting for over 20 years, retiring as a Senior Deputy Headteacher and was awarded by Haringey Council for her Outstanding Achievement in Education.
She is passionate about Legacy and has written 6 books. Two document the lives of Windrush Elders. Keen to address representation in books, Juliet has published over 60 young Black authors in 25 books. She is a Patron of a school in Accra, Ghana, a Director of a Youth Advocacy charity Perm Inc (Permanently Included), who work with schools and parents whose children are at risk of being permanently excluded and is the Chair of Hackney Council’s Improving Outcomes of Black Children and Young People’s Accountability Board. She is an Independent Custody Visitor for the Mayor of London and conducts unannounced visits to Police stations to check on the welfare of detainees in Police Custody.
Juliet is the recipient of The Home Office Respect Award for Taking a Stand, the Lord Michael Hastings OBE Integrity Baton award, and in 2022 she was honoured in the House of Lords with a British Citizenship Award medal (BCAe), for her work with Young People and in Education.
In 2024, she founded and launched the Children’s Black Book Fair UK and in March will be launching ‘Unsung’ Kidszine, an online magazine that profiles incredible community champions that is written by children’s authors.
Yazmin McKenzie
Yazmin McKenzie is the founder of entertainment PR agency Twenty9Twelve, representing talent across Film, TV, Fashion, Philanthropy & Sport.
With over a decade of experience, Yazmin has worked with some of the world’s most sought after talents including music mogul Simon Cowell, Black Panther star Letitia Wright and footballing legend Samuel Eto’o.
With a passion for youth culture and equality across the spectrum, Yazmin devotes her spare time to supporting the next wave of young talent on the rise in her role as Creative Director at Young LIT Stars, Europe’s first publishing company dedicated to producing works authored by Black children age 6-16 and events that promote the next generation of writing talent.
Connie Bell
Connie Bell is one of the founding members of Decolonising The Archive (DTA) and University of Repair. She is a Consultant, Memory Worker and Cultural Producer
Her work explores decolonial methodologies and memory as technology within archives, and her doctoral research focuses on the archives of Caribbean Theatre.
Currently, Connie is the creator of the overarching course module Museum Restitution, following on from the success of the Correcting Our Collecting Community Archive Course.
Nichole Ama
Nichole is a ICAEW-qualified accountant with years of experience in practice, helping businesses navigate financial complexities with confidence. Beyond the numbers, she is passionate about corporate social mobility and have had the privilege of collaborating with ICAEW on past campaigns to drive meaningful change in the profession.
Faith is an important part of her life and values shape the way she approaches both her career and personal life.
Ima Aura
Ima Aura is a psychotherapist, researcher, and storyteller whose work bridges ancestral wisdom, community healing, and personal transformation.
Rooted in African-centred knowledge systems, she weaves together psychotherapy, ceremony, and cultural advocacy, creating spaces for deep connection, self-inquiry, and belonging.
As a member of the African diaspora living in Britain, her lived experience informs her dedication to kinship, history, and ancestral reverence. Her research explores historical memory, cultural reclamation, museum restitution and African descendant mental health and well-being within community and institutional spaces.
Through therapy, storytelling, and ritual space holding Ima’s work centres authenticity, embodiment, and reconnection to self, community, and ancestry.
Instagram: @echoesofresonance & @conscious_aura
Website: www.imaaura.com
Janet Sebastian
Janet Sebastian has been involved in grassroots community work starting with Social Action for Health in 2015, to the Alzheimer's Society to Neighbourhood Facilitator and many other organisational positions. She is passionate about Community Engagement & has a deep person-centred practice in finding solutions to help all. Empowerment is key.
For her Master's study in Black British Literature, this awakened a passion for researching black lived experiences by delving into the archives. With a critical interest in exploring black lives through literature using a range of writers, including Buchi Emecheta, Joan Riley, Jean Rhys to Olaudah Equiano, Sam Selvon, Derek Walcott, amongst many other writers & novelists, Janet has developed a unique perspective on the complexities and nuances of Black British identity. Her research focuses on how literature reflects the histories, struggles, and triumphs of the Black diaspora, bringing to light both personal and collective experiences in the text. Literature serves as a powerful tool for cultural expression and healing, offering valuable insights into how historical and contemporary social issues shape the lives of the community.
Alicia Graham
Alicia Graham, creator of sound art, podcasts and Reel Rebel Radio's audio-art and activism project talks about her lived experiences and Kinship Care.
Rena Williams
Carnival Arts/Events Lecturer-Health and Social Care International Importer Community Activist.
Rena Williams embodies a drive to enable others to achieve their goals. With a forward-thinking vision, she is a pragmatic problem solver with a humanistic approach to team working.
Rena is a committed people person with a passion to work with marginalized groups using a dynamic and visionary approach.
